Guardian

Item: Smashes -- The Best of Guardian
Author: Doug Van Pelt

Smashes -- The Best of Guardian

(1999)

Reviewed by Doug Van Pelt

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Label MyrrhHM Magazine #77May 1999

acoustic rock hard rock melodic rock

Whenever a band leaves a large label, that label is likely to do the "Best Of" thing, allowing the label to reap a financial harvest one more time from the artist they've signed. Often times, of course, the band has left to another label or some other awkward situation surrounds the possibility of said band working with label in a positive manner. In simpler terms, often the band isn't consulted on the track selections. I venture a guess that this was the case here. You take a band as good and adept at songwriting as Guardian, and you're flat out going to have a killer "Greatest Hits' package. The lion's share of material here is from the blockbuster album (at least in my opinion) Buzz. Tunes like "Lion's Den," "State of Mind," "Lead The Way," and "This Old Man" are a good reminder of how great that album is. Unfortunately, nothing was culled from the band's first two albums. It would have been really nice to hear about four songs from Fire And Love. Since most Guardian fans have every album the band has released, they will be looking for that rare, unreleased gem. There's five attempts at such a gem, but me thinks they fall flat on their face trying. I mean, it's kind of novel to hear a dance remix of "This Old Man" or "Bottlerocket," but one listen is probably enough for Guardian fans. This is kind of what I'd expect to hear in some surreal dream about Guardian music being played in a karaoke bar in Japan. The "Acoustic Remix" of "Babble On" and the "Mellow Remix" of "Queen Esther" actually work the best in the special treatment category. Since this great band is history, let's hope that the special team of Jamie Rowe and Tony Palacios carry on the fine tradition of writing super songs.\